Heroes saved our kingdom for generations. There’s always a new danger lurking in the shadows and for every danger, there’s a new hero waiting to be awakened. A quest to save the world isn’t an easy task and most of the heroes could count on loyal friends in order to bring peace in a place where chaos ruled. Now it’s my turn to rise but it seems like my task is bigger than ever before. I will rebuild the kingdom and you can take that quite literally.
Dragon Quest meets Minecraft
Minecraft became one of the most popular games in a very short period of time. This didn’t go unnoticed and a lot of other companies tried to mimic the popular game. Now it’s time for Square Enix to bring their Minecraft-like game on the market: Dragon Quest Builders. Although it might look like a simple spin-off at first sight, this Dragon Quest games goes a lot further than Minecraft ever did. Let’s start with the story.
The game is set in the gorgeous Dragon Quest kingdom called ‘Alefgard’ where an evil Dragonlord forced the world into darkness and robbed the people from their abilities to create buildings. To make things worse, the Dragonlord also unleashed tons of monsters, destroying houses and settlements all over the world. The humans are left behind in the dark without a decent solution, until you awake.
Much more than Minecraft
It seems like the Darklord missed a small detail, the cave where you’re currently sleeping. A mysterious voice awakens you, telling you the world needs your power. Since the Darklord didn’t pay that much attention, you’re left with the power to create as the only living creature in Alefgard. It’s your goal to recreate the villages and buildings so the people can live a normal life once more. The quest will take you over fifty hours to complete and is filled with monsters and bosses to defeat, which is a lot more epic than Minecraft.
Get out of your cave
The game starts off rather easy, you need to escape your cave and find the first abandoned settlement. It’s here where you’ll learn the ropes of the game and its building mechanic. At first sight, the game has a lot in common with Minecraft. You destroy certain things like trees and ground, to receive special blocks. With these blocks, you can build whatever you like. Your first objective is to rebuild the settlement that got destroyed during the hostile takeover of the evil Dragonlord. By gathering the needed resources, you’ll soon have created your very first settlement. An easy start but things get a lot more complicated when the villagers start to arrive.
This is the key difference between Dragon Quest Builders and Minecraft. This is a Dragon Quest game first, inspired by Minecraft mechanics. The game has a light story but everything you do is for the greater good. Instead of just walking around in an open sandbox, building whatever you like, Dragon Quest Builders sets you off on a big adventure, filled with quests. These quests are given to you by the people who inhabit your settlements, the more people you attract, the more quests and the more secret items you’ll discover.
A lot to do in this gorgeous world
One thing’s for sure, you won’t get bored while playing Dragon Quest Builders since the game comes packed with content. Since this is more an RPG game than it’s a sandbox game, you’ll be out adventuring the world a lot. The more missions you clear, the better your settlements and the more villagers will appear. This is the perfect indicator for your level, if you have a high level of villagers in your settlements, you’ll be able to go further and defeat stronger monsters.
The world of Dragon Quest Builders is enormous and there’s something new to discover on every island. The world is divided into several islands, which serve as chapters in the game. Reaching those will take some time and you’ll spend over ten hours on the first island alone. In order to reach the new islands, you’ll have a lot of work to do.
First of all, you’ll need to complete the main quests of the villagers. Some are easy, asking you to create a new closet, while others will take more of your time, setting you on a mission in the dangerous world itself. The more you complete, the better your gear and hidden items become. There are also some secret quests that you’ll only unlock at the end of a chapter, forcing you to replay it. It’s not for everyone but for those who can’t get enough of exploring the world, it’s a great mechanism to have. The real challenge at the end of a chapter are the bosses.
That’s right, Dragon Quest Builders has real boss fights! Unlike the regular enemies, you can’t take down the bosses with just a few hits, you’ll need to find its weak spot and come up with a strategy to take it out as fast as possible. The catch during these fights is your settlement. If you’re not careful, the boss will destroy most parts of your settlements during your fight, taking away a lot of your resources. The biggest problem with the bosses is the lack of balance. Some bosses are extremely easy to take out while others feel almost impossible to defeat. That being said, the addition of bosses in a game like this really is a great decision.
Create your own world
For those who want to create their perfect world in a free roam world, Dragon Quest Builders got that covered as well. After you finish the first chapter you’ll be giving the opportunity to create your own world in the Free Roam mode. This mode follows the same rules as the main game but you’re free to create whatever you like. You can use all the materials you can find and you can even change the colors of your buildings to make your creation truly unique. Just like the main game, you’ll need to eat from time to time to prevent your character from passing away. It’s an interesting mechanism that makes creating worlds a little more challenging. The best part about Free Roam is that you can upload and play creations of others, meaning you’ll have access to tons of great content at every time.
Conclusion
It’s clear that Dragon Quest Builders is inspired by Minecraft but it offers way more than just a simple clone. Dragon Quest Builders takes you on an epic journey filled with gorgeous worlds, interesting quests and difficult bosses to take down. If you’re a fan of Dragon Quest and Minecraft, this is a no-brainer and you should pick it up in stores. Never played one of those games before? Dragon Quest Builders might be the perfect game to start your new addiction.
8.5/10
